Tuning your own Mustang!

SO a a member @decipha chimed in on one of my posts about my supercharged mach calling everyone idiots..lol I got a kick out of it. Any way he started talking about these modules you can buy that you can directly program in real time (which btw im an electrical engineer/Programmer) which is the best way to do any sort of modeling or tuning of any electronic device. he asked that I make a thread so we can discuss it. for the most part most of the write up I have found seem pretty straightforward however not for someone who is a novice or cannot read up on what the terminology is for what your changing and what to expect when said changes are made.

So my biggest question i want answered right now is that I currently have a tune...that is apparently locked, and my car runs just stalls and runs leaner than the liquer scene during the prohibition. Will using one of these QuarterHorse devices and loading it all up erase that tune, or will it allow me to now interact with it?

I currently have on the way a new diablo sport Mafia, because I know for fact that it is toasted its cord rubbed and ripped open exposing the 12v rail shorted on the chassis and it no longer delivers 12 volts to the MAF, and I've tested the maf in various ways outside of the car and it its detecting any change in the flow of air past the thermistors so i know they are damaged...i went and picked up one from ford so once the diablo mafia comes in I can just plug it all in and see if she goes back to normal.

the Quaterhorse module is like 250$ and if it can in fact read and write in real time to the ECU it will prove ideal for doing street tuning of my fuel maps and other conditions during the year like temps and what not.....SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO GO!

But do you want to hear from those of us idiots that are still tuning with SCT? Even though someone like me has been tuning since 2007 and has tuned a few different set ups.

Theres a ton of info on here about tuning with the different types of software. Check in this forum and the Engine Tuning forum in the Terminator section.

My first bit of advice is if you're serious about doing this send the MAFia back and get a good MAF. Then start with a new tune.

@slo984now hell yeah I still want to hear from you guys. I'm a novice to the tuning sector, and i know its a dangerous place to be if you don't know what your doing. Im looking for my best option to be able to do the most with what I have. He has is opinion, and from what i'm reading about what he as suggested it looks solid, but possibly complicated and very easy to make a change that could possibly be really bad for my car. However i'm an engineer with software background so Im not to tepid when treading those waters so Im really looking for total access to as much data as I can get to. the last tuner i used a a diablo pred II back in like 2003 and i had a dyno tune done with it (I didn't have access to much esp things that are important like fuel table management)...it was mostly stock at the time and have just bolt ons so i felt safe with what they were doing. Now i'm running a blower, with an unknown tune, busted mafia, and MAF, and I may if the combo when reinstalled new doesnt fix the issue I have no idea what to do next. I just dont know enough about the hand held tuners to know if they are going to worth the investment in my current situation with a tune onboard thats locked, and I have no access to change it.

P.S Those of you who have given me info like yourself have always given me solid info so I haven't run into any yet on the forum that I would consider an idiot so please keep that in mind I appreciate everyone who shares the knowledge they have learned with other to help that's why I use this site the most!

I never called anyone an idiot I called them ignorant its not intended as an insult.

Ignorant
ig·no·rant
/ˈiɡnərənt/
adjective
lacking knowledge, information, or awareness about a particular thing.


When it comes to the older fords (2004 on down) the back of the eec-v/eec-iv has whats known as a J3 port that you can plug a quarterhorse in to that basically gives your ecu a USB port. You can then plug your laptop directly in to the ecu and do anything you want with it. For those less involved it basically turns your stock ecu in to an aftermarket standalone. You can do anything you want with it. You can read the tune out of the ecu. You can compare it to a stock tune if you want to see what all your tuner has changed too. You can write tunes while the engine is running. Make changes to your tune while the engine is running. You can even make changes while your at WOT if your ballsy enough to do it. The datalogging is second to none as well. And the support is as good as the person writing it wants it to be. Considering I write most of it for TunerPro and use it and update it daily its far superior than anything else offered. Not only that. I write custom code for the eec's to make them do anything I want. None of the other software choices out there are even remotely close.

A few more tidbits...

TunerPro is free.
Vehicle support is free.
No license fee's for each vehicle. Hell I've tuned close to 700 vehicles and never once paid a single vehicle license fee.
No possible way to get locked out the ecu.

I can go on.

This isn't anything new it's been around for 10 years. And since using it from day one no one in their right mind would ever use SCT or anything else out there that uses that archaic method of flash tuning.

Here is a quick run down of the steps you have to take to tune with SCT.

1> you have to either plug in and get the ecu strategy code from the ecu or find the sticker.
2> Open the tuning software and put the code in to open the stock tune
3> Make all your tune changes in the editor
4> Then write the tune to the handheld
5> Then plug the handheld in to the car
6> Then writing the tune to the car
7> Then open the datalogging software
8> Then set up the datalogging parameters
9> Then start the engine
10> Then start datalogging

But then, oh no, lets say the car is idling like pooh on your startup tune and fuel trims go to -25. So now you have to repeat steps 3 on down.


How does it differ with the quarterhorse?
1> Remove the ecu and clean the j3 port on the back, plug the qh in and put the ecu back in.
2> Open TunerPro and turn the key on, read the tune out then turn the key off
^^only ever done once.

3> same as step 3 above, make your tune changes in tunerpro
4> click write, wait a few seconds for the ecu to write
10> click the button to begin datalogging and start the engine
Note: why no steps 5-9? cuz they don't exist with the quarterhorse

But then, oh no, lets say the car is idling like pooh on your startup tune and fuel trims go to -25.

Simply go to your maf transfer and reduce it 25% and click update WHILE THE ENGINE IS RUNNING AND YOUR STILL DATALOGGING

the engine immediately idles perfect fuel trims go to 0 and you can drive off and continue tuning no problem.

@decipha I'm hoping no one took offence to what you said this is a pretty good bunch of guys and gals here so no worries. the QuarterHorse sounds great, but you still maybe not directly answered one of my biggest concerns is that the tune I have on there right now is for my procharger if that gets erased somehow I will have to either uninstall the the supercharger (i've done this like 4 times now so i'm pretty good at it lol) and have it flashed back to the OEM tune by ford or someone with a stock 03 mach1 flahs on a handheld. SO just to be clear if i hook it up, it will just allow me to see whats on there and then start to change whatever i want to, and WONT remove or start a new tune.

The QuarterHorse is awesome and Decipha knows his way around the EEC, for sure.

I have his page (efidynotuning) saved in case I get stuck somewhere while tuning. The write ups are worth the read.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

Its not my intentions to ever offend anyone I'm probably one of the nicest guys to ever walk the earth I just don't hold back anything and simply tell things how they are. It's probably a trait most of us new orleans folks take for granted I suppose but I don't waste time with non-sense. I'm straight up to the point and move on.

No the quarterhorse cannot erase your tune. With the quarterhorse the first thing you do is read your current tune out and save it since you'll want your PATS code from it. The PATS code is the ONLY values in the eec-v you need or more technically should have. As long as you have the 24 digit PATS code written down in a notebook or saved somewhere you have everything you'll ever need. Say your carpet catches on fire and only your ecu is damaged. You can put your pats code in another ecu and everything works same as stock. The dealership wouldn't even be able to know the ecu wasn't original. And its really not that big of a deal either if you ever do loose it or worse case happens you can simply click the pats disable button and forget about it but I don't recommend disabling PATS if it works. Not to mention you can use forscan with an obd2 cable to reprogram PATS if desired. Getting side tracked, but the main point I was trying to imply there is that you can do anything you want with the quarterhorse. Your tune is not limited like every other tuning software out there. You can even change your vin number in it.

There is never a reason to ever have to return a vehicle to stock if the computer goes bad. Once you have a quarterhorse running on your vehicle you can remove the ecu and replace it with any other ecu without having to reprogram pats or anything since that all stays on the quarterhorse.

You can continue making adjustments with the tune you have no problem. You could put a stock tune in it and tune that if you want. You could take someone else tunes and use that if you want. You could say f this I'm not tuning anything and reprogram your ecu to control the thermostat in your house if your that good. I don't know any other way to say it other thatn you can do anything you want with it.

Everything Decipha said. I've sucked the tune off of the EEC in a car I bought which was previously tuned with SCT and modified it in Binary Editor. And when I need the QH for my other vehicle I just unplug the QH and the car still runs like it did on the SCT tune.

ROFL, i think id just buy another thermostat they are cheaper than 250$ , but I may be investing in one here soon after i get my diablo Mafia in the mail...if my car is able to run normally after that the next step is a quarter horse and a j3 chip, or cant i just leave the quarterhorse in the ECU?

Hey Question guys, my MAF because of my supercharger system is now relocated to the lower right fender well near the inter cooler. If I move it up to the front of the bend right before the TB will that require a retune. I planned on making a 7-8" 3" long straight pipe before the MAF to smooth out the air.

Ted B said:

Hey Question guys, my MAF because of my supercharger system is now relocated to the lower right fender well near the inter cooler. If I move it up to the front of the bend right before the TB will that require a retune. I planned on making a 7-8" 3" long straight pipe before the MAF to smooth out the air.

Click to expand...

the MAF scaling will likely be off is my understanding.

@DSG2003Mach1 yeah that would make sense, also the quality of air would be much better as its not coming right out of a 90 degree bend from the intercooler which I cant imagine is well organized air flow by any means. So I am wondering why it was relocated there in the first place? However with most setups I've seen it looks to be standard practice.

Im guessing its a procharged car? Why they put it there I have no clue, seems stupid all the way around. I went slot style as well when I relocated mine (I never even installed the stock style maf in the first place, I had it moved and upgraded from the start)

I was planning on getting a HPX slot style, but depending on the results of the new parts I might get one to replace the stocker...and use the quarterhorse to tune it.

anytime u mess with the maf u have to re dial it in

Could you modify an existing SCT flash tune with the QuarterHorse?

YeaBro said:

Could you modify an existing SCT flash tune with the QuarterHorse?

Click to expand...

Yes you can read the tune that is flashed to the EEC with the Quarterhorse and then modify it with BE or Tuner Pro.